


Truths and Roses

by dedkake



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Established Relationship, M/M, Mutant Rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 12:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2693192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dedkake/pseuds/dedkake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Special Agent Lehnsherr knows the difference between right and wrong, but when a breakthrough in his case puts the law against him, he has to make some hard decisions.  It turns out that breaking the law isn't as difficult as he thought it would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truths and Roses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arisu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arisu/gifts).



> Thanks for the lovely prompts! I started a couple of them so maybe I'll be able to post more soon. Have a happy Secret Mutant!

Erik stares blankly at the report Moira has just dropped on his desk. He’s been protecting Trask and he hasn’t wanted to believe that the man is planning genocide—but here’s the proof, all found on a tiny flash drive confiscated from the Xavier Flower Shop. The Sentinel Program is not just a security measure like Trask has been pitching it; it’s a weapon.

“MacTaggert,” Erik says, carefully placing the new report into his file on Trask. “I have to go.”

There's never been anything more important to him than doing his job, but now it's clear to him that his job isn't to follow Stryker's orders, especially not if that means the destruction of mutant kind. No, he became an agent to help save mutant lives and if that means going _against_ Stryker, than so be it. Erik will not be responsible for the destruction Trask has planned.

When he looks up, he finds Moira watching him, her eyes narrowed. “No,” she says, her voice soft, but firm. “Before you go, you need a plan. You need backup. You need to not get yourself killed.”

Erik wants to shout, to throw something, to pull the whole building down around him. But he can’t, he can’t let this conversation be heard by anyone in the room. “I don’t care if I die,” he growls, “and I don’t have time for a plan. There’s no one who can help me now and if I don’t act _now_ , mutants are going to be _killed_. You read the report—you know what’s going to happen. It starts _tomorrow_.”

Moira’s jaw is tight as she stands and moves to lean over Erik’s desk. “You’re an idiot,” is the first thing she says, and Erik is about to shove her away, but she continues, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. “You’re an idiot because you’ve forgotten what spiraled this whole mess out of control.”

“And what would that be?” Erik asks, turning the change in his pockets. It is torture to sit still when every second could mean the life of another mutant.

“We still have Charles, Erik,” she says, picking up the rose that’s been drying out on Erik’s desk and dropping it onto the file. “Stryker never signed the transfer papers.”

Suddenly there’s not enough air in the room. Charles is here. Even after his confession—which Erik _knows_ was false—Stryker has kept him _here_. “What?” is all Erik can manage.

Moira rolls her eyes. “He’s your ticket out of here. We both know that he knows more than he’s letting on to Stryker _and_ we know he trusts you. Get him out and he can help you find whoever it is who’s trying to take Trask out. So you can help.”

“You say I need a plan so that I don’t get myself killed and then you tell me to break someone out right under Stryker’s nose. Great plan,” Erik says, already running the schematics of the building over in his mind.

Grinning, Moira steps back from his desk. “Leave Stryker to me,” she says, waving the flash drive in the air, “I have a long report to present.”

They’ll have Charles in a pair of suppressor cuffs as well as a suppressor collar. It’s standard practice in interrogation for mutants who register at level four and above, and Charles is at least that, but it still sets Erik’s teeth on edge. Under normal circumstances Erik would be filing a complaint against Stryker for keeping a mutant cut off from his power for over 24 hours, especially a telepath, but now he’s glad for it since it means that he, at least, has full use of his powers in the interrogation room.

Turning the lock without the key, Erik pushes the door open gently, hoping not to alert anyone to his presence on a security camera until absolutely necessary.

“Charles?” Erik calls as he enters, making a quick sweep of the room and the viewing room behind the mirror. They’re alone.

Charles looks up, frowning when his eyes focus on Erik. It’s hard for Erik to think that it was only yesterday morning that he last saw Charles, smiling sweetly at him over a cup of coffee outside his shop. He looks different now, tired and confused and in desperate need of a meal, but Erik’s heart still warms at the sight of him. Moira’s right—he is an idiot.

For a second, though, it seems like Charles won’t recognize him, but he says, his voice more clear than Erik expected, “Your boss told me you were off the case.”

Erik smiles, moving to Charles’ side to examine the suppressors. They’re standard issue and Erik could disable them with a flick of his wrist, but that would alert security. “I _am_ off the case. But that means I can do whatever I want.”

“Oh, good,” Charles says, holding his hands and the cuffs out for Erik. “That means you can help me break out of here.”

“You’ve been in here for more than a day and that’s your plan?” Erik asks, raising an eyebrow. “Hope I walk in offering to commit felonies for you?”

Charles shrugs and Erik wants to kiss him. “It might involve a little more making out on your desk, but you’ve got the gist.”

“Security will be on us in a minute once I remove the suppressors,” Erik says, taking Charles’ hands in his own. “We need an actual plan.”

Tipping his head up to look at Erik, Charles pouts. “I don’t even get a kiss?” he asks, tugging Erik forward gently by the grip he has on his hands.

Erik sighs and caves, leaning down to give Charles a brief kiss. He ignores his desire to crawl in over Charles and the chair like he had done last weekend in the front display of Charles’ shop. Someone is going to see him on a camera any minute.

“I’ve disabled the mics in here,” Erik says against Charles’ lips, unable to articulate his full thought.

“How romantic,” Charles murmurs, pushing his nose into Erik’s neck.

Pulling away, Erik finds himself laughing. “It might be for someone,” he says, straightening up again. “Not all romance involves bouquets of roses and cheesy greeting cards no matter how much you want to sell that.”

“A man can dream, darling.” Charles’ eyes are sparkling now, despite the suppressors.

Squeezing Charles’ hands, Erik says, “I just wanted you to know that no one else will know what you say if you answer my next questions. Okay?”

Charles nods, all laughter gone as he watches Erik closely.

Running over his list of questions, Erik feels his training kick back in. This is something he knows how to do and even if he’s doing it to break the law this time, he finds he doesn’t mind. “Do you know what was on the flash drive we found in your shop?” he asks, thanking whatever god might be out there that Moira had been in charge of decoding the flash drive.

Charles stares at a spot over Erik’s shoulder for a moment, his jaw tight. Eventually he nods. “Yes.”

Good. Erik lets his shoulders relax. “And you’re protecting the person who acquired the drive from Trask’s office?”

“Yes,” Charles says again, his eyebrows pulling together. “I trust you, Erik, but I can’t let her get hurt.”

Erik’s stomach twists at Charles’s words, but he has to go on. “Trask is presenting this to the committee tomorrow at noon,” he says, his hands tight on Charles’. He told Charles that the mutant cause was his number one priority when they first met and he needs him to remember. “We need to find her.”

With another deep breath, Charles says, “Then what are we waiting for?”

During this entire investigation, from their very first interview with him, Charles has been somewhat closed off in his efforts to protect the woman with the flash drive—to have him comply so easily now is thrilling, but it leaves Charles even more vulnerable than before.

“Moira’s old partner has some weight around here, Charles,” Erik says, trying not to glance at his watch. “If we can present the evidence we have to him, I don’t think there will be charges against any of us.”

Charles gives him a weary look. “Somehow I don’t think we’re going to get out of this that easily, Erik, but thank you for saying so,” he says, his accent thickening in a way Erik is beginning to realize means he’s feeling emotional. “Some things are worth it.”

Nodding, Erik places his hands back around the suppressor cuffs on Charles’ wrists. “We aren’t going to be able to just walk out of here,” he says, glancing over his shoulders. Hopefully Moira is still holding Stryker’s attention.

When he looks back, he finds Charles grinning. “Leave that to me,” Charles says, his grin turning smug. “As long as you aren’t going to arrest me for breaking nearly every psi-law there is, I think I can get us out of here just fine.”

“Can you help Moira, too?” Erik asks. Once he and Charles are on the move, Moira will be in danger, too.

“Of course,” Charles says, his fingers curling into fists. “Are you ready?”

Erik grins. “Let’s find out,” he says and pulls the suppressors apart.


End file.
